Yealmpton Cider Making

Bowden Farm’s Cider Press restored to action

This film shows the traditional production methods to producing English cider at Bowden Farm in Yealmpton (pronounced locally as Yampton) in Devon’s South Hams. The Cider Press was renovated in the 1980s to produce traditional cider before the farm was redeveloped for housing. Westcountry cider producers use a true cider apple to produce non-carbonated, cloudy cider often conditioned in casks. Mass produced ciders are filtered, pasteurised and carbonated. 

Cider making dates from the time of the Normans and 1066. The changing climate in Britain and France meant a decline in grape vineyards and an increase in apple orchards leading to more cider production. In the 18th Century it became customary to part pay farm labourers in cider. A typical allowance was 3 to 4 pints a day until the Truck Act of 1887 stated that the reward of labour be paid in the current coin of the realm bringing an end to liquid payment.